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Team St. Lucia In U23 Netball
(7 June 2001) - The St. Lucia team is in Antigua for the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States under-23 netball championships. Eleven players, accompanied by coach Liota Charlemagne and manager Wayne Benti, left through George F. L. Charles on Thursday morning. The group is quite inexperienced at this level, with key player including Shaina Reynold and Sarah Alexander having to miss out due to their CXC exams. Only two players, including skipper Nyasha Savoury, are back for this campaign.
Savoury has been a national player since 1996. Captain of the under-23 team for the second consecutive year, Vieux Fort's "Raging Bull" is the leader of a defensive unit that's likely to miss Reynold and Alexander. Alexandra Eugene, though, returns after a year away from national duty. The under-23 skipper in 1999, she brings some experience to the defensive circle. Vianna Lonville and Sherrie Myers are the other defenders.
Laborie's Janie Williams played centre for last year's under-23 team. On this squad, and for national champions Shamrock, she shares centre-court duties with 1999 national under-16 captain Deselva Florton. Both have played in the OECS Champion of Champions tournament with Shamrock. Natasha Charles was in the under-23 squad last year, but did not play in Grenada; Kacha Foster is the reserve in centre-court.
All three shooters are playing under-23 for the first time, but Mellisa Alfred and Melissa John each have some regional experience. Alfred shot 73% for St. Lucia at last year's Caribbean under-16 competition in Jamaica. John played last year's Windward Islands' Secondary School Games in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Mabouya Valley's Wendy Dorvish is the third and final member of Team St. Lucia's shooting rotation.
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Four For Fannis In Romania
(5 June 2001) - 29-year-old St. Lucian footballer Andre Marcellus Eric Fannis has scored four goals this season in the Romanian First Division. Born on Christmas Day 1971, Eric is in his third season with Nord Club Foresta Suceava, founded in 1997 through the fusion of F.C. Foresta Falticeni and F.C. Bucovina Suceava. The club is still known by many as Foresta Falticeni.
In its first two years, Foresta finished 15th in the Romanian league, and this year they're on course for their best-ever finish, lying 13th as the league heads into June. Fannis' most recent goal came in a 1-1 home draw against FCM Bacau in mid-May, when he equalized in the 75th minute. For the season, Foresta has seven wins and nine losses, but twelve draws.
Fannis last played for St. Lucia in 2000, when he was a member of the squad that played the first leg of the first round World Cup qualifier against Surinam at home. At Mindoo Philip Park, St. Lucia won 1-nil, but in the return leg, without Fannis, they lost by a similar margin, then went out of the tournament at the first hurdle after losing in a penalty shootout.
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WIWCF Double: So Said, So Done
(3 June 2001) - Before her team left for St. Vincent and the Grenadines, St. Lucian skipper Verena Felicien stated her desire to come home with the double. Three-time defending West Indies Women's Cricket Federation league champions, the St. Lucians had last lifted the knockout trophy in Jamaica two years ago. After winning a fourth league title in Kingstown last week with a handy defeat of the home team, Felicien and her team re-focused.
As expected, St. Lucia made Sunday's knockout finals. Their opponents were last year's winner, Trinidad and Tobago. Taking first knock St. Lucia got an ideal start from Roselyn Emmanuel and Nadine George. Emmanuel made 58 runs and West Indies reserve wicketkeeper George contributed 77 off just 92 balls before she was run out. She hit ten boundaries, and St. Lucia were 170 without loss after 32 overs. Felicien (37) and Eugena Gregg (34) maintained the momentum, and St. Lucia ended with 272 for five off 50 overs.
The bowling for St. Lucia was just as impressive as their batting. Trinidad and Tobago were held to just 193 for seven, Julitta Herman capturing 3 for 43, as St. Lucia cruised to a 79-run victory at Arnos Vale.
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Strong Opener For Dominic
(4 June 2001) - Dominic Johnson, former St. Lucia Sportsman of the Year and defending Central American and Caribbean men's pole vault champion, opened his 2001 outdoor season at the 53rd edition of the International Venizeleia meeting in Chania, Greece last Sunday.
The Chania meeting, which has been organised under the shield of the European Athletics Federation in recent years, is the track and field meet with the longest tradition in Greece. The Kydon Athletics Club and its President Sakis Kouvatsos this year's meet together.
Jeff Hartwig of the USA won the men's pole vault with a clearance of 5.80m, followed by Germany's Tim Lobinger and Austria's Dmitriy Markov, each clearing 5.70m, which is Dominic's career-best. The 25-year-old St. Lucian cleared 5.50 on this occasion, a height with which he professed himself to be quite satisfied after ten weeks of training in Formia, Italy, with Vitaly Petrov, one of the world's foremost pole vault coaches.
Russia's Marina Kislova won the fast women's 100m race in 11.09s, the second fastest time in the world this season, defeating Debbie Ferguson of Bahamas. The men's long jump was a high level event. Three athletes exceeded 8 metres. Kevin Dilworth jumped 8.25m. at the last attempt to win, followed by Bahamas' James Beckford (8.15m). Jamaica's Ian Weakley won the men's 400m in 49.39, a fairly slow time.
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It's All Go For OECS/Whitsun
(3 June 2001) - Everything is in place for the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Track and Field Championships, 23-24 June 2001. "We are hoping that countries will send their strongest teams. [Olympic finalist] Kim Collins, Alleyne Francique and Sean Lambert are confirmed," says Michael Bascombe, senior sports editor at Grenada Broadcasting Network and a member of the organising committee for the OECS/Whitsun Games.
According to the committee, Grenada's Amateur Athletics Association will host up to seventeen athletes and three officials from each OECS territory – St. Vincent and the Grenadines, St. Lucia, St. Kitts and Nevis, Montserrat, Dominica, British Virgin Islands, Antigua and Barbuda, Anguilla – for the Games. Other territories are invited to send up to ten athletes and two officials. Two athletes are allowed per individual event and one entry per relay. Final entries must be in by 8 June, with teams expected to arrive in St. George's 22 June, to depart 25 June. The organisers will provide accommodation and meals.
The OECS/Whitsun Games will be contested at the National Athletic Stadium, Queen Park, St. George's on an eight (8) lane Mondo laid rubberised track with automatic timing. This meet is expected to be an annual event. Similar plans are being made for the Barbados International Classic, and there are IAAF meets in the French territories of Martinique and Guadeloupe. With more facilities being built around the region (St. Lucia) we could well be witnessing the beginning of a Caribbean track and field circuit. With the continued emergence of Caribbean athletes internationally, this could be just the impetus that is required for track and field to really take off as the sport of choice.
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Commonwealth Sports Awards For St. Lucia
(1 June 2001) - The 22d Annual Commonwealth Sports Awards Ceremony is being planned for St. Lucia next October. Hundreds of journalists, athletes and invited guests will converge on the Royal St. Lucian for the event, the brainchild of Jamaican author and former sports journalist Al Hamilton.
The Awards Ceremony has previously been staged in England, Scotland, Ghana, Uganda and Jamaica. Invitees for the 2001 event include Olympic boxing champ Audley Harrison, West Indies cricket luminaries Courtney Walsh, Sir Vivian Richards and Sir Garfield Sobbers, Barbadian track star Obadele Thompson and Vincentian netballer Skiddy Francis-Crick.
Hamilton, who was recently in St. Lucia to make arrangements for the Ceremony, says that with such luminaries expected here, the island can look forward to a superb gala event. On hand will be officials from the Ministries of Sport and Tourism, both of which have thrown their support behind this project. Assistance in staging the ceremony is also being sought from the local and regional private sector. Air transportation will be provided by BWIA West Indian Airways.
Journalists and other interested persons, feel free to get in touch with me at allsport@slucia.com for more information.
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Flavius Kicks Off Hounds Rout
(1 June 2001) - The Pittsburgh Riverhounds franchise of the National Professional Soccer League exploded with their most prolific offensive show of the season, scoring eight goals against the Northern Virginia Royals on Friday. The game was the final qualifier for the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. 2,816 fans were on hand for the fixture at the Hounds' Bethel Park Stadium.
With three wins, a loss and a draw in their previous games, the Hounds needed not just a victory, but the bonus points they'd gain by scoring three or more goals in the contest. Now, if the Reading Rage beats the Hershey Wildcats, Pittsburgh advances and wins the Keystone Cup.
In Friday's game, Pittsburgh's David Flavius, a St. Lucian international, started the scoring off a cross from Alfredo. Pushing for extra scoring punch, the Hounds played a 3-3-4 formation to start the match. Two minutes after the Hounds 2000 season-leading scorer opened their account, Pittsburgh would reap the benefits of their attacking strategy, Phil Karn grabbing a 2-0 lead. Unfortunately, the Royals had nearly as many attempts on goal as the Hounds, calling for a more balanced formation. Flavius was substituted.
Early in the second half, midfielder Ben Garry scored his first professional goal. Defender Nick Terlecky scored in the 61st, and defensive midfielder Jaman Tripoli in the 71st. Forward Leidy Klotz converted four minutes later. Karn recorded his second goal in the 77th minute, before completing his hat-trick and the scoring in the 88th. Alfredo provided the bookend assist.
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World Champs' athletes to train in Calgary
(4 June 2001) - The 8th International Amateur Athletic Federation's World Championships in Athletics may be in Edmonton, but Calgary will also have a chance to experience some of what will take place in August. Edmonton Mayor Bill Smith says several European teams will make Calgary their home for a few weeks prior to travelling north for the Championships.
"For Alberta to host this major event is something we can all be pleased with," said the mayor. "The Championships won't just be Edmonton's time on the world stage. It will be all of Alberta's and Canada's because this is the first time that the Championships have been held in North America." The economic benefit to the province is estimated at $387 million. The final net impact will be an estimated $203 million increase in Alberta's Gross Domestic Product.
Teams from Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Denmark, the Netherlands and New Zealand will call Calgary home for awhile. Nearly 260 athletes, coaches and officials from the six countries will utilize the outstanding training facilities at the Foothills Club during July. Details on each team's arrival will be released at a later date.
Athletics Canada is in the process of establishing a series of 'Preparation for Edmonton Meets' at Foothills. Tentative dates are July 23, 26 and 30. The meets will be open to any athlete from across Canada in addition to the visiting nations' athletes training in Calgary and athletes from countries already in the province but training elsewhere.
The 8th IAAF World Championships in Athletics is expected to bring more than 3,000 athletes, coaches and officials from more than 200 countries, to Edmonton, Alberta, Canada to compete in 46 athletic events. More than 2,500 media are expected to attend and provide coverage around the world.
The IAAF World Championships in Athletics is the third-largest sporting event in the world, based on a world-wide television audience of four billion viewers expected to tune in during the 10 days of competition. The IAAF World Championships in Athletics is third in scope only to the Summer Olympics and football's World Cup.
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WICB Appoints Interim Committee
(7 June 2001) - The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), at its extraordinary Board meeting last night in Barbados, decided not to appoint an interim chairman. Instead, the Board voted in favour of appointing an interim committee to run the affairs for the next seven weeks.
The interim committee, which will be responsible for the administration of the Board's affairs, is comprised of Richard De Souza (Trinidad), Stephen Alleyne (Barbados), Chetram Singh (Guyana), along with WICB's CEO, Gregory Shillingford (who was in St. Lucia this week to see the progress on the National Cricket Ground) and WICB's CFO, Richard Jodhan.
The new WICB President and Vice President will be elected 21 July, 2001, but no venue was named. The WICB's articles of association does not allow for the election or appointment of an interim chairman. The articles of association stipulates that there must be a nomination of candidates (complete with a seconder), along with the nominated person's signature. These nominations must be lodged with the WICB's Secretariat at least thirty (30) days prior to date for the elections.
So far, several names have been touted to take over the top two positions in West Indies cricket. Among them is former West Indies fast bowler, and Barbados government minister, Wes Hall. Guyana's cricket boss, Chetram Singh is also being named as a likely successor to Pat Rousseau, while Val Banks of the Leeward Islands is being named as a likely successor to Clarvis Joseph. (reprinted from www.cricinfo.com)
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Nine St. Lucians For Windies
(6 June 2001) - Nine members of double West Indies champions, St. Lucia have been named in a 24-member trial squad announced by the West Indies Women's Cricket Federation to prepare for tours of Sri Lanka and Pakistan later this year.
Victorious team captain Verena Felicien has been put in charge of the squad while the other St. Lucians selected are successful openers, Roselyn Emmanuel and Nadine George, middle order batsmen Eugena Gregg and Pamela Alfred and allrounders Julitta Herman, Phillipa Thomas, Leona Vitalis and Lorena Vitte.
The team, which will be reduced to 16 players, will tour the sub-continent to compete in Tests and one-day matches.
Meanwhile, the selectors also named a 14-member under-23 squad which will be captained by Vincentian Genielle Greaves, with Nelly Williams as vice captain. Pamela Alfred is also on that team.
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Tiger Defends Against Guy Love
(7 June 2001) - Guy "Guy" Love Lawrence will attempt to unseat Benjamin "Tiger" Modeste as World Boxing Council Continental Americas Super-Lightweight Champion this weekend in Castries, St. Lucia, the first title defence for Modeste since taking the WBC gold in September last year. The two fought before at this venue, the Vigie Multipurpose Sports Complex, with Tiger winning after former Caribbean amateur champ Lawrence was disqualified. This time, Lawrence has been working assiduously to prepare for what is - at the age of 33 - probably his last chance to grab a major title.
The card is scheduled to begin from 8pm Saturday evening at Vigie, with Barbados-based St. Lucian Shannon Craig against St. Lucia's Patrick Wilson, in the first of three welterweight bouts. A second four-round match will feature Three-time Barbados Olympian Marcus Thomas, born in St. Lucia; he'll come up against Julian Tannis. The third bout is the first of two championship matches, with St. Lucia's Chris "Shaka" Hodge (Thomas' brother) against Barbados' Sherwin Marshall. They'll contest the first-ever WBC Caribbean/Fecarbox title, before the curtains come up on the big event.
WBC vice-president Roy Van Putten is going to be the special guest of the St. Lucia Boxing Board this weekend. He's flying in especially for the championship card.
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Cuba Eyes 2012 Olympics
(2 June 2001) - Cuba will launch a bid to play host to the 2012 Olympics. Vice-President Jose Ramon Fernandez, head of Cuba's Olympic Committee, told the Communist Party daily newspaper Granma that Cuba wants to show the world how a small country can efficiently organize the event without the commercialism that traditionally accompanies the games.
``The permanent policy of always granting the site to the same ones, the few rich representatives of less than 20 of the 200 committees that exist, is unacceptable,'' Fernandez was quoted as saying.
He said that wealthy nations allow ``an exaggerated amount of commercialism'' that overshadows the event established to promote amateur sports.
Eight U.S. cities also have submitted bids for the Olympics. They are New York; Houston; Dallas; Los Angeles; Cincinnati; San Francisco; Tampa, FL.; and Washington-Baltimore.
The International Olympic Committee will choose a host city in fall 2005.
(Reproduced from www.caribupdate.com)
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World Juniors 2002 For Jamaica
(2 June 2001) - A three-man delegation from the International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF), led by competitions director, Sandro Giovannelli, is satisfied with preparations for the ninth staging of the Coca Cola World Junior championship, to be held at Kingston's National Stadium next year.
According to a news release, the delegation, completed by Mario Odrizola of Spain and Mexico's Ceasar Moreno, examined the facilities and infrastructure that are in place both at the athletes' Villages and the National Stadium. The team noted, however, that improvements are still needed at both the Stadium and the Villages.
While the IAAF technical officers were in the island, they undertook a tour of the city and its environs, under the guidance of competitions director, Anthony Davis; A Chris Shaw, architect of the Urban Development Corporation (UDC); Garth Gayle and Brian Smith of the Jamaica Amateur Athletic Association (JAAA); Grace Jackson of the University of the West Indies (UWI), and Howard Aris of the Sports Development Foundation -- all members of the Kingston 2002 Project.
Ordrizola noted that both the University of the West Indies (UWI) and the University of Technology Athletes Villages were spacious and could accommodate the 2,000 athletes and officials expected to attend the largest athletic event the island has ever hosted.
Ordrizola was impressed with the newly built tunnel at the Stadium that will lead the athletes from the warm-up area into the call room and the competition's area, but the officers' concerns were the areas reserved for offices, including that of the jury of appeal, the technical delegates and that of the president as well as the installation of the new Mondo track.
They will return to Kingston next June for Jamaica's National Track and Field Championships, which will be used as a test run.
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Junior Volleyballers In Action
(1 June 2001) - The national under-nineteen combined schools girls' volleyball team got its first taste of action after two months of practice under Cuban coach Enrique Sandino Valdivia and his St. Lucian assistant John Calderon. Friday at Vigie Multipurpose Sports Complex, the young ladies played Le Club Volleyball, finalists in the 2001 Independence Tournament.
Both teams were preparing for the League competition, which begins 9 June with an opening ceremony at the Complex. Independence women champions Ciceron Seagulls United will be out to win yet another trophy, whereas their men will try to get back to their usual dominant ways.
Friday's warm-up match was too much for the junior team, playing as they were against a fairly young, but relatively much more experienced LCV. Led by Lydia-Ann Harris and Samantha "Spugs" Mann, Le Club won 25-22, 26-24, 25-17. They were a better team, but not by much.
The junior team comprises outstanding players from the revived Secondary Schools' Volleyball Tournament, all three divisions of which were won by Leon Hess Comprehensive in late March.
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Fourth WIWCF Win For St. Lucia
(30 May 2001) - Three-time defending league champions St Lucia beat host territory St Vincent and the Grenadines by nine wickets in their sixth-round match to retain the West Indies Women's Cricket Federation (WIWCF) championship on Wednesday. Verena Felicien's St Lucians ended the seven-team tournament with a maximum 18 points from six consecutive wins.
The hosts, playing just their second year in this tournament, were dismissed for just 91 runs in 38.3 overs after being put in to bat. For St. Lucia, Philippa Thomas took four wickets for 28 runs. Julitta Herman (2-18) and Leona Vitalis (2-19) were also among the wickets. In reply, St. Lucia lost just one wicket on their way to 92 runs and a tournament-clinching win. Next for them is the knockout competition, which they last won in Jamaica two years ago.
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Promesse For Europe
(30 May 2001) - National sprint record holder Ronald Promesse says that he will be available to represent St. Lucia during what promises to be a busy summer for track and field. Failing that, however, he's hoping to travel to Europe, where he would enjoy his first season as a professional athlete.
Recently, Promesse graduated from University of Texas el Paso, and as he was completing his degree in kinesiology he has not had a great deal of competition this year. Still, the 26-year-old from Vieux Fort ran 10.38 in his first meet this year – at University of New Mexico – achieving already the qualifying mark for World Championships in July. In a recent interview he said he would like to be called up by the Amateur Athletics Association for the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States Championships in Grenada in June, not to mention the Central American and Caribbean as well as the Francophonie Games.
If he's not selected for those meets, Promesse is likely to travel to Europe, where he will compete for a little over a month at meets in Poland, Portugal, Ireland and England. An automatic qualifier for last year's Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, Promesse sustained an injury in the 100m heats down under. He ran 10.17 last year, now he is hoping to run ten seconds flat.
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Lucian Volleyballer In US Open
(29 May 2001) - Maxim Auguste has just ended his senior year on an athletics scholarship at Queen's College in New York. The 6'1" volleyballer still has a year of NCAA eligibility remaining, but for the time being he's playing with Creole Club of Flushing, NY. They're competing in Division I of the 2001 USA Adult Indoor Championships Open, which is being played in Milwaukee.
On 27 May, Creole went unbeaten in their preliminary group, dropping just one game from three matches. In the playoff round on Tuesday, Creole beat Rhode Island 25-22,25-18 to advance to the second round, where they would lose to the Thunderbolts. Teams travel from around the country and other nations to play in the week-long US Open Championship. The US Open features the 16 best elite teams from the United States and other nations.
Past, present, and future national team players are frequent participants at this event. Total attendance is approximately 5,000 over eight days. This is Maxim's second year playing for Creole in the US Open.
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